Quotation Meme
Snagged from debg and serenada, among others.
When you see this, post a couple of quotations from your own favorite writers. These should be people you read over and over again, not people who had one great idea; go ahead and do it from memory, mistakes and all.
Like serenada, I'm not the sort of reader who can often quote passages at the drop of a hat, but I do remember the gist. I looked these up to make sure I had them right.
Jim Bouton:
You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.
Roger Zelazny:
"None sings hymns to breath," said Yama. "But, oh to be without it!"
Zelazny is one of the few writers whose lines I can quote. Here's another:
I was rabbit.
Terry Pratchett:
That was another thing. Her books on alchemy were marvelous objects, every page a work of the engraver's art, but they nowhere contained instructions like "Be sure to open a window." They did have instructions like "Adde Aqua Quirmis to the Zinc untile Rising Gas Yse Vigorously Evolved," but never added "Don't Doe Thys Atte Home" or even "And Say Fare-Thee-Welle to Thy Eyebrows."
To understand my affection for this passage, it helps to know that as a kid I once cleared out the family home with hydrogen sulfide (aka rotten egg gas) whilst experimenting with my chemistry set. My mother was not amused. They don't make chemistry sets like that anymore. Sigh.
Larry Niven:
Never throw shit at an armed man. Never stand next to someone throwing shit at an armed man.
---
The Pratchett quote is from
Feet of Clay, which I just finished. It's another Watch book, and the mystery is really quite good. There were also (for me, anyway) two laugh out loud moments. A terrific book.
When you see this, post a couple of quotations from your own favorite writers. These should be people you read over and over again, not people who had one great idea; go ahead and do it from memory, mistakes and all.
Like serenada, I'm not the sort of reader who can often quote passages at the drop of a hat, but I do remember the gist. I looked these up to make sure I had them right.
Jim Bouton:
You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.
Roger Zelazny:
"None sings hymns to breath," said Yama. "But, oh to be without it!"
Zelazny is one of the few writers whose lines I can quote. Here's another:
I was rabbit.
Terry Pratchett:
That was another thing. Her books on alchemy were marvelous objects, every page a work of the engraver's art, but they nowhere contained instructions like "Be sure to open a window." They did have instructions like "Adde Aqua Quirmis to the Zinc untile Rising Gas Yse Vigorously Evolved," but never added "Don't Doe Thys Atte Home" or even "And Say Fare-Thee-Welle to Thy Eyebrows."
To understand my affection for this passage, it helps to know that as a kid I once cleared out the family home with hydrogen sulfide (aka rotten egg gas) whilst experimenting with my chemistry set. My mother was not amused. They don't make chemistry sets like that anymore. Sigh.
Larry Niven:
Never throw shit at an armed man. Never stand next to someone throwing shit at an armed man.
---
The Pratchett quote is from
Feet of Clay, which I just finished. It's another Watch book, and the mystery is really quite good. There were also (for me, anyway) two laugh out loud moments. A terrific book.